


Hoofbeats like Heartbeats

by sasha_feather



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/F, First Time, Horseback Riding, Horses, JoyFest, POV Nile Freeman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:46:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27295882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasha_feather/pseuds/sasha_feather
Summary: Part 1 is about Nile learning to ride a horse.Part 2 is sexy times!
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Nile Freeman
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62
Collections: JoyFest 2020





	Hoofbeats like Heartbeats

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cesy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cesy/gifts).



> Thanks to EveWithAnApple for beta reading. 
> 
> It was interesting writing from Nile's POV as she is a much bolder person than I am.
> 
> I love comments and kudos!

There's just so much for Nile to learn. She makes a list of all the things she wants to ask her new family to teach her, and the list only grows: pick pocketing, lock picking, sword fighting. So much cool shit they must know from their lives, like the most beautiful places to visit, and where to find the best restaurants. Nile has to keep reminding herself that she has time. She isn't anywhere used to the idea-- she's always been so much in a rush to get things done. Before, she never wanted to waste time. Now she has so much time, and she can spend it learning things she never dreamed about before.

It's Nicky's idea to teach her horseback riding. "It may seem antiquated," he tells her. "But this is the way we traveled for most of our lives. I trust a good horse more than I trust most of the drivers on the road."

"Also, he likes horses," Andy says.

"I do," Nicky replies, smiling that little half-smile of his. "But Andy is the better rider."

Andy shrugs, not agreeing, not disagreeing. "I was born on horseback," she says. Nile can't tell if Andy's being literal; Andy says all kinds of wild shit and it's impossible to tell. 

The team starts by teaching her boring stuff, talking as they eat supper every night. "You need to wear the right clothes," Joe says. "Sturdy boots, because the horse could step on your foot. Leggings or jeans to prevent chafing. I hear you saying, But Joe, we heal, who cares? You still have to know this stuff. You may need to teach it to a normal human."

"And sometimes we work protection detail," Nicky adds. "Or a similar job where we need to blend in. So I wear a helmet when I ride a horse or a motorcycle. I don't want to draw attention, and besides, now we need to set an example for Andy."

Andy glares at him. 

Nile looks up Western-wear stores in Los Angeles, where they're staying while waiting for their next job. "I'll come with," Andy said. "I need some new boots too."

The store is small, kind of rich-person boutique-y. But it has a clearance rack, so Nile heads there first. 

Nile picks out a plain black helmet and a pair of brown leather cowboy boots. She tries on a light-blue cowboy shirt with shiny enameled snaps. The soft cotton feels cool against her skin. "Feels like a Halloween costume," she says to Andy as she steps out of the changing room. The shirt has embroidered designs on the sleeves, little loop-de-loops in darker blue thread.

"It looks good, though," Andy said. "Get the white one too. You look good in white." Andy says it casually, matter-of-fact, but the compliment makes Nile smile. 

"You're right," she says. "I do."

Andy pays for the clothes in cash, and they leave to meet the guys for lunch at a taqueria. 

"You know, there were lots of Black cowboys. And cowgirls," Joe said to her as he sips from a glass of iced tea. "And queer ones too. You'll look authentic." 

"Huh," Nile says. She's never really thought about it before, beyond an obligatory teenage viewing of "Brokeback Mountain." Horses and cowboys, even the gay cowboys, seemed like things for white people. There's people like Little Nas X now, she supposes. If there were queer black cowboys back in the day, maybe he's more retro than she thought. 

They rent out a small stable in the California countryside. It's Monday morning, early. Nile and Andy drive out to the stable in their rented car, and pull up to a ridiculously picturesque place; it looks like a calendar photo. Large oak trees shade the barn and the edge of the riding ring and dot a large pasture where horses and goats run free. A small creek winds through woods where wildflowers bloom. 

The barn isn't overly fancy, to Nile's relief; it looks well-used and comfortable. The air smells of hay and sawdust.

"Pick out a horse," Andy says. 

There are eight horses to choose from in the barn, all standing quietly. Nile can't tell any difference between them, so she walks up to the one closest to her, a red-brown horse with a black mane. On the front of the stall a little wooden sign proclaims the horse's name to be Ruby. 

"Hi there, Ruby," Nile says. Ruby holds her head up with ears pricked forward. She has large brown eyes and a little diamond of white hair in between them. 

Andy shows Nile how to put the halter on, how to lead the horse from the left, how to tie her up properly. "A horse is a lot stronger than you," she says. "You can't force them. Ideally, it's a partnership, and they will do what you ask, because they are in it with you."

Andy shows her how to pick the horse's feet up and inspect them, checking for rocks or sticks and picking out the mud with a metal pick. She explains the saddle and bridle and how to put them on. Ruby stands patiently and calmly through all of this. There are dozens of rules and guidelines: always shut the gate behind you. Watch where the horse's feet are. Don't startle the horse because they can bolt. Pay attention to your body language and your emotions, because horses are very sensitive. Check the tack to make sure it's fitting correctly and that there are no burrs or sticks or bees on the saddle pad. Nile feels like a kid in school, that impatient feeling of wanting to get to the good stuff, but she keeps quiet and listens. 

The barn opens out onto the riding ring, an oval space covered in loose dirt. Nile leads Ruby out into the ring, only to get another ten minutes of explaining about parts of the horse, how the animals see, how they think. "They are prey animals," Andy explains. "If they're scared or upset they will fight, or run, or occasionally freeze. Usually they'll run."

Finally, Andy lets her get on the damn horse. Left foot in the stirrup, left hand grabbing the reins, a jump, a swing of her right leg, and she's in the saddle. Ruby stands perfectly still, but it's still a rush, the thrill of a new experience. Nile pets Ruby's neck and breathes out, a long breath. 

"All right, walk her around the ring a little bit," Andy says. 

"How do I do that exactly?"

"Click your tongue, squeeze your legs in. Gently. Make sure the reins are loose." 

Nile does as instructed and Ruby moves forward, walking along the wooden fence.

"OK. Get comfortable. I'll be back in a few minutes," Andy says.

"Wait, what?" Nile says, but Andy is already out of sight. Ruby seems to know what's up, though, and keeps walking around the edge of the oval ring. 

Andy rides into the ring a few minutes later on a large gray horse, looking indeed like she was born there. 

"This guy's called Valor," Andy says. Andy and the horse sidle up to the gate, open it, and waltz through. 

"It's more fun to ride in the open," Andy says, gesturing for Nile to follow her. 

Nile guides her own horse through the gate, and with some difficulty, closes the gate behind her. Ruby doesn't want to stand close to the gate, so Nile has to reach over to get the latch, nearly losing her balance. 

"OK, let's go," Andy says. She clicks her tongue and leans forward, and suddenly the horses are running, Ruby chasing after Andy's horse down the dirt trail and into a grove of trees. 

"What the _fuck_ ," Nile says, her words swept away by air rushing past her face. Nile grabs a handful of Ruby's mane. By sheer luck she stays on Ruby's back, adjusting her balance and eventually figuring out to lean forward and settle down into the saddle. Her heart is racing. The hooves really do make a sound like thunder below her, a steady rumble; it turns out that's not just a figure of speech. Ahead of Nile, Andy looks over her own shoulder and flashes a wicked grin. 

As the horses continue to run over the flat, gently curving path, Nile's terror recedes, and gives way to a sensation like flying. She's riding a thousand-pound animal and she's flying over the ground. Air fills up her lungs and she laughs. 

Nile ran track in high school, and on good days it felt like this: the warm sun, the fresh air, the sense of being in the moment, no future and no past, the feeling of being in her body. There's only the running. She feels so free. 

They ride like that for just a few minutes more before Andy pulls up, stopping in a clearing. Ruby follows, slowing to a stop and breathing hard. 

"You're a terrible teacher, who does that?" Nile says, feeling out of breath herself.

"You didn't fall off, did you?" Andy's smiling, looking loose and relaxed. 

"Guess I'm just a natural," Nile says.

Andy's wearing her usual clothes, just a black t-shirt and black jeans, and she'd let herself be chided into wearing a helmet. She looks so good, lean and strong, and so clearly in her natural element. Her eyes shine with a wild kind of joy.

Nile isn't sure what this thing is between them, yet. So far there has been flirting, and mentorship, and friendly touches. Today, things seem different in some undefinable way. Andy seems to feel more relaxed, for one thing.

They walk their horses for a while, riding side by side in a comfortable silence through woods and over small hills. Riding is surprisingly comfortable and her body adjusts to it quickly. Andy and Nile don't talk much, but they don't seem to need to. 

They round a bend in the path and the trees open up to reveal a small waterfall that fills a large shaded pool. A small clearing holds a picnic table, a fire pit, and posts to tie the horses. Beyond the pool, the land falls away into an open valley. 

"It's time for lunch," Andy says. Nile looks at her watch with surprise. The time has flown by without her even noticing. 

Andy dismounts and clips her horse's halter to one of the posts. Nile watches Andy, trying to memorize the sequence of movements, but she doesn't quite get it. "Free your left foot from the stirrup," Andy says. "Swing your left leg over the rump, then lean into the horse, free your right foot, and jump. This way you won't get your foot caught in the stirrup." Nile does as she instructs, and it's not as graceful as she'd like, but she lands on the ground on both her feet, and the ground feels strange for a second, solid and unmoving beneath her feet.

Andy shows Nile how to properly tie up the horse; the rope she uses has a quick-release mechanism. "It's better to let them run free if they're panicking. They can hurt themself or you if they freak out while tied up." When Andy finishes checking her knots, she plants a kiss on each horses' nose. 

They've brought lunch along in the saddle bags, turkey sandwiches, apples, and bottles of water. "Sit next to me, the view's better this way," Andy says as she sits down at the picnic table.

"It's beautiful here," Nile says, sitting down and unwrapping her sandwich. She admires the sunlight and shadows playing across the surface of the small pond. "It's so quiet. All I can hear is the water."

"Some things never lose their appeal," Andy says, turning her head to look at Nile.

Nile looks back. In the dappled sunlight, Andy looks more beautiful than ever. Her eyes seem to sparkle. Her hair is cropped short, and a few gray hairs are growing in the front. She's smiling, soft, peaceful. Nile leans in a little and presses her lips to Andy's. Andy leans in, kissing back. Nile feels a thrill of electricity pass between them. Her heart beat cranks up. Andy leans back, licks her lips, and kisses Nile again. It goes on like that for a few minutes. The angle is a little awkward, so Nile turns and sits astride the bench of the picnic table. She deepens the kiss and puts her hand on Andy's thigh, stroking upwards.

"Yeah, OK," Andy says. "But just so you know, I am too old to have sex out on the bare ground. Or on hard picnic tables."

"Fair enough," Nile says. She can't stop herself from smiling.

"Eat your sandwich," Andy says. "It's getting cold."

"It started cold. It's literally cold cuts."

Andy just smirks back at her. 

They finish their lunch, get back on the horses, ride back to the stable. There's a delicious sense of anticipation coursing through Nile's body. She has to wait to kiss Andy some more; first, they have to untack the horses, carefully putting the saddles and bridles back in their places. They have to brush the horses out and check them over. They have to make sure all the horses in the stable have water. Nile is paying attention to the instructions, truly, but her mind is fizzing with excitement, and she keeps getting distracted by Andy's arms.

Andy drives them back to their safehouse, which takes an hour. An hour of Andy's arms and the smell of her sweat. Nile needs a distraction, so she asks Andy about her favorite horses she's known. This was the right call, as Andy seems to like this subject.

"I worked with this mare once who was an escape artist. She could untie ropes, lift latches, jump very high fences. She didn't run away, she would just do it because she could. I'd find her just outside the fence, eating grass. She was such a troll.

"There was a stallion I loved, one of the fastest horses I'd ever ridden. This was a couple centuries ago. There was just something special about him, the way he'd seem to know what you wanted before you asked it of him. He was tall, black with with white stockings. His name was Henri.

"The best ones," Andy says, smiling, "are brave. They will charge into battle full of heart. They will give you everything they have, no matter the consequences."

"I know someone like that," Nile says.

\--- Part 2 ---

Thanks to Copley, their current safe house is a modern apartment, a refreshing change from weird caves and abandoned churches that look like they should be homes to vampires. They have air conditioning, secure wi-fi, and the kind of kitchen where everything is stainless steel. The place is positively twenty-first century.

Nile grabs a couple of bottles of beer from the fridge and pops them open. She hands one to Andy, who sits down at the kitchen table and takes off her boots.

Nile is taking a drink when she hears Andy hiss. She turns to see Andy peeling down her sock, revealing a red blister on the back of her ankle. Nile sits down and reaches for Andy's foot, pulling it into her lap.

"I guess I should have bought better boots," Andy says, grimacing.

"Sometimes you just need to break them in," Nile says. "This isn't too bad. Painful, though huh? Do you want me to kiss it better?"

"My feet stink," Andy warns.

"I don't care," Nile says, and plants a kiss on Andy's ankle, right next to the blister. Her feet don't really stink, though, not by Nile's standards, not after Afghanistan. 

"Joe and Nicky are out for the day, right?"

"They went to the beach," Andy says. 

Nile remembers that Nicky said he wanted to work on his tan, and Joe had laughed.

"Good," Nile says, kissing Andy's ankle again. "Because I like being loud."

"Mmm, I can work with that," Andy says. 

Andy leads Nile to her bedroom, taking her beer along with. Nile kisses Andy long and slow, tasting the beer on her lips. Andy smells a little like horses and sweat, a little like the outdoors; sort of wild and earthy. 

Andy seems to be in no rush, but Nile's been turned on for hours now. She steps into Andy's space and wraps her arms around her waist. Andy lifts one leg up, twining it around Nile's body; she lets Nile push her down onto the bed. 

Suddenly it's hot and heavy. Nile feels like this has been coming for weeks, and she doesn't want to wait any longer. They help each other undress, peeling out of tight jeans, unhooking bras and tossing them away. Nile brushes her own breasts against Andy's, and her whole body shudders. She kisses down Andy's muscled torso and finds the scar, the place where she was shot; she traces her fingers and tongue over it. Andy sucks in her breath; her hips jerk upwards. Nile kisses her belly, her hips. She looks up at Andy's face to see Andy's eyelids half-lowered over her blue eyes.

Andy widens her legs when she sees what Nile has in mind. Nile has been imagining herself like this, settled between Andy's legs, and now she's here, tasting her, licking into her folds, making her moan. Nile zones out like this for a while, just concentrating on breathing and licking and sucking, enjoying the sounds that Andy is making, feeling her hips and legs jerk with pleasure. 

"I'm close," Andy says, her voice rough. "Just go hard on my clit, yeah, like that." Andy's words turn into a long, loud moan. Her hands flex open and closed, her thighs tense and relax. 

Andy cries out when she comes, shaking, then going still. Nile sits back and strokes her hands up and down Andy's thighs. 

"Come up here," Andy says, so Nile does, laying down alongside Andy, pressing their bodies together. Andy kisses her then, deep and dirty, sucking on Nile's lips. She pulls back and asks,"what do you like, Nile? What have you been fantasizing about?"

"Your hands," Nile admits. "Your fingers and your hands." She holds Andy's right hand and puts it on her thigh, drawing it up to cup her cunt. "When you've been teaching me hand-to-hand combat… it's been a little hard to focus lately."

"Oh yeah?" Andy cups her palm, squeezing gently. Nile groans, letting herself be loud the way she likes. "What else?"

Nile sucks in her breath and lets herself say it. "You, holding me down. Pinning me and making me take it."

Andy smiles slow and delicious then, a glint in her eye that Nile's seen before. That expression usually means that Nile's scored a hit, and Andy is pleased with her.

"All right. Wrestle me," Andy says, and grabs Nile around the waist. 

Nile rolls away, swings her legs over Andy's, fights back. It's competitive, sweaty, fast, naked wrestling, and it's the most erotic thing Nile has ever experienced. Andy fights dirty, grappling at Nile's breasts, jabbing Nile with an elbow. Andy is all over her, her hands and legs everywhere. Centuries of experience win out, and after a few minutes of struggling, Andy is sitting on top of Nile's hips, holding Nile's wrists in one hand. 

"Do you yield?" Andy says, and it should sound ridiculous but Nile feels her whole body loosen and relax. 

"Yes."

"Stay there for me, just like that. Put your knees up." 

Without much warning, there's two fingers in her, pushing in fast and hard. It comes as a relief after so much wanting. Her back arches and she lifts her feet up onto Andy's shoulders. "More," she says. "Just give it to me."

Andy puts another finger in. "You're so wet, Nile. You're so ready for me, aren't you. Hungry for me." She fucks Nile with her fingers, steady and relentless. 

"Yes, yes, I've been...." Nile runs out of words, feeling Andy's fingers curl inside of her, lighting sparks up inside her. 

"You've been what," Andy asks, slowing down a little, drawing out the pleasure.

"Wanting you," she says. 

Andy lowers her head and sucks at Nile's nipple. She puts her left hand around the back of Nile's neck, and it feels comforting, like she's earned Andy's approval. 

"You're so open for me. Do you think I can get four fingers in?"

Nile bites her lip and pitches her hips up another notch. She closes her eyes against the intensity of Andy's gaze.

"Yes, look at that," Andy says. "You're so beautiful, look at you. So good for me, such a good student. So eager to please."

Nile feels like she's on the edge for a long time, the wave of her orgasm coming from a long ways away, then crashing over her hugely. Andy holds her through it, murmuring in her ear, stroking the back of her neck. 

They sprawl out together, sweaty and satisfied. Andy curls up into the little spoon pose and pulls Nile's arm over her. "Let's do this all again tomorrow," she says.

Nile hums her agreement and hungs Andy tight to her body. "But with better socks for you. No more blisters."

Andy laughs. "Yes, boss." 

\----  
The end.


End file.
